I sit up, spitting out the dirt and shooting Nelly a dark look while she just prances away triumphantly. Even I can't stop the laughter that escapes me.
“At least she has good taste in fashion,” Charlie teases, gesturing to the strip of fabric hanging from Nelly’s mouth.
I turn toward Char to check the damage. I'm met with even more tanned skin showing with the skirt now ripped up to her knees.
Glancing up, I nod toward the shorter skirt. “Guess I owe you a new dress now.”
She waves me off with a grin. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not every day I get attacked by a fashion-forward goat. Maybe she thought it should be a little shorter,” she adds with a shrug, and a swing of her hips, her smile still wide and bright. “Lucky she’s cute.”
“She’s been corrupted by Doofus.”
“Doofus?” she asks, looking adorably confused.
"Duck Norris. I call him Doofus. He's not bad if you stay on his good side, but he's a menace around these parts. He may be cross-eyed and only have one leg, but it doesn't hold him back, that's for sure. He has a knack for breakin' into people's houses, and bedrooms. Bathrooms too.”
"You’re tellin’ me y’all have a one-legged, cross-eyed duckanda nibblin’ nosygoat? You sure do live wild out here on the mountain," she giggles. I join her, the tension from our almost-moment dissipating in the warm afternoon sun.
Charlie holds out her hand for mine and she helps me back up to my feet. After dusting myself off, I send a glare Nelly’s away as she trots away happily with her ill-gotten gains dragging along the dirt behind her. “That dang goat has a mind of her own. Iswear if she’s not careful, we’ll have goat stew for dinner instead of Paella.”
Charlie gasps, the menacing animals seemingly forgotten. “You’re makin’ Paella for me?”
"Thought I'd try," I say with a shrug. "You said you loved Spain, so I wanted to give you a bit of that in Alaska. It's not every day that I get to show off my ranch to my best friend." MyOne,I don’t say as I bend down to grab my hat.
When I straighten again, the expression on Charlie’s face makes my heart skip and flip and do all those things hearts shouldn’t do. That's because it’s one I used to catch her giving me back in the day when she thought I wasn’t looking. One full of wonder and happiness, so soft and warm that back then I could barely take it. Seeing it now has me wanting to tell her all about the mountain’s call. Because now, more than ever, I want to be the person she looks at like that for the rest of my life.
"I can't wait," she whispers. Those three words have me wanting to grab her in my arms and kiss her like I wanted to before Nelly rudely interrupted me.
But I figure I've waited fifteen years for this woman, what's another few hours?
“Wanna come see the ranch house?”
As if she can read my mind she nods, and I’m grateful for the distraction. It’ll give me time to get my head on straight again and hopefully will my heart to calm down. Because right now, if I hadn’t already been told by Lee, I’dknowCharlie was my One. And I know that whatever happens, this time there’s no way I’m letting her go.
15
CHARLIE
You know when you’re having an important conversation, one you know is going to be life-changing—or that youhopewill be—and then a head-butting, dress-eatinggoatcomes along and interrupts you? Yeah… before today I’d have said me neither.
But now that I’m sitting on a stool in the kitchen of a cute little cabin on Austin’s ranch, I can’t stop thinking about it. What did he mean? What was he going to say?
“Maybe it's time we stopped tip-toein' around this, doc.”
I really want to know, but I need to wait until it’s the right time. And now isnotit.
After giving me a tour of the ranch house and having a quick catch-up with Red, his son Wyatt, Rhett, Cora, Toby, and Dee, Austin whisked me away to the cabin with the promise of dinner. The others were smiling and teasing him, and I caught his blush before we left. It was cute but also hella hot. I’ve always had a soft spot for guys who aren’t afraid to show their vulnerability and not hide it.
Once we left the house, Austin showed me around the cabin, pointing out all the parts he helped design and make when he and Rhett renovated it, including the gorgeous wooden counter that I’m currently sitting at.
I couldn't believe it when he told me he made it from scratch. It was yet another reminder that there are still a lot of things I don't know about Austin, or maybe it's more that there are a lot of things about himself that he doesn't share all that often. It's just the way he's always been—never one to toot his own horn and not a man to seek praise for the sake of it.
Understated, humble, giving, thoughtful, talented, handsome… the list goes on…
Now I get to see another part of the grown-up Austin Graham—ranch owner, mountain man, and someone who gives more than he takes in life–because he’s standing on the opposite side of the counter from me, chopping vegetables and looking like one of Aster Hollingsworth’s book boyfriends come to life.Literally.
He's wearing a dark blue shirt with the buttons undone and a heather gray thermal underneath. Paired with jeans that hug his hips and cling to his behind like a bee to honey. The kitchen towel flipped over his shoulder is what does it for me though. All he needs is bare feet and I’d be a goner.
He looks so domesticated and at home in the kitchen. It’s also swoony as all get out and I swear it’s like my dream scenario of a date has come true. A handsome sexy man cooking my favorite meal for me.
